Richard (Dick) Duerr, age 90, died peacefully on Saturday January 16, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the loving presence of his beloved wife, Sylvia (Sue), and daughter, Maia.

Richard was born January 24, 1930, in Canton, Ohio, the son of Clarence and Gertrude Duerr. From a young age, he showed a great talent for music and studied classical piano. Family members have fond memories of Dick in command of the baby grand piano that took up over half of the living room at the family house in Canton. He was master of the concerto, and in his later years he especially enjoyed playing Chopin. Dick also loved to play with musicians in the Los Angeles area, his home for many years. He was well loved for his sensitive accompaniment. For a time he was also the owner of Globe Music, a renowned sheet music company serving classical musicians around the world.

Dick loved animals with a passion, and over the years adopted some of his most favorite dogs from the Pasadena Humane Society. He had a gentle manner that won over creatures of all kinds and at one time or another, dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits, and even hermit crabs all found a home with Dick, Sue, and Maia.

Dick’s other passion was travel, and some of his most memorable journeys included a trek to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, and a mapping survey to Baja California with co-workers from the Automobile Club of Southern California where he was employed as a travel counselor from the 1960s until his retirement. 

Richard is preceded in death by his parents and his sisters, Vivian Egert in 1987 and Rita Duerr in 2008. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Sylvia; daughter, Maia; nephews, James and John Egert; nieces, Carol Hoffer, Martha Bratt, and Mary Walker. His passing is also mourned by many nieces and nephews from Sylvia’s family, as well as friends and neighbors from his Pasadena, California community. Neighbors called him the "Mayor of Los Robles Avenue," and appreciated his ready smile, his sense of humor, and everyday acts of kindness like dropping off just-perfect library books and delivering newspapers to their doorsteps.

Richard died of complications from COVID, joining more than 400,000 Americans who have lost their life to this virus and to the negligence and malevolence of the Trump administration. Richard’s family would like to acknowledge that Indigenous and people of color as well as essential workers are disproportionately represented in that number, and express a wish that all who mourn him will commit to working toward a culture that values equity and racial justice. The family would like to thank the front line staff at Pacifica Senior Living for their wholehearted and dedicated care over the last year of his life in Santa Fe.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Pasadena Humane Society (pasadenahumane.org) or Tewa Women United (tewawomenunited.org), a Native women-led organization serving people in the Tewa homelands, Richard's adopted home for the last year of his life.